The Meaning of Revival
Psalm 85:6
I want to begin a series of studies on the biblical doctrine of revival. Now, I know that when I mention the word 'revival' today that there are a lot of different connotations and even misconceptions about what that really is. There are cultural connotations and there are traditional connotations and there are even social connotations that can get in the way with our understanding what a real, biblical revival is.
It's kind of like the elderly lady who was at the airline ticket counter, as the attendant was processing her ticket, who said that she didn't want a window seat because she didn't want her hair to get messed up.
And there are a lot of people today who misunderstand the biblical concept of revival. What it is and why it is and how it comes about.
So, this morning we're going to be looking at the Meaning of Revival. Then tonight we'll be talking about the Method of Revival. Then next Sunday we'll study about the Means of revival in order to see the Marks of revival.
Now, even though we won't spend a lot of time here this morning, let me encourage you to be a part of these studies, because I believe that they will be a great encouragement to your heart and your walk with the Lord and maybe, just maybe, you might be the one and this might be the place where God chooses to start the next great revival.
Perhaps the greatest authority on real revival was a man by the name of Dr. J. Edwin Orr. Back in the 1970's Dr. Orr was preaching a series of messages on revival at the Columbia Bible College. After one of the services, a young college student walked up and asked Dr. Orr, "Besides praying for revival to take place, what can I do to help bring it about?" Without even hesitating, Dr. Orr looked at that student and said, "You can let it begin with you."
We used to sing a hymn that said these words, "Lord, send a revival. Lord, send a revival. Lord, send a revival. And let it begin in me."
You know, a generation ago, those who longed for revival and lived to see revival had a little slogan, a
motto if you would. It hadn't been developed by a team of master marketers. It wasn't designed to be packaged neatly on shirts and caps or even little bracelets. It was simple and straight to the point “revival in our time”.
It was begun by a group of people who had heard and read about how God had moved before and the amazing transformation that His manifested presence had on cities and counties and even entire countries and they prayed and pleaded with God to send revival in their generation. And as they cried and prayed for revival, they were simply echoing what the Psalmist cried out and prayed for thousands of years before as he penned the words of our text this morning.
Psalm 85:6
That really is an amazing verse, because in that one vital verse we have the author of revival.
We have the action of revival. And we have the aim of revival.
Now, the word 'revival' means to renew, to repair, to restore, to refresh. Literally, re-life or life again. And it's talking about what God does supernaturally in the lives of believers. This is not evangelism for the sinner. This is empowerment and encouragement for the saint.
Paul S. Rees, a well known Bible conference preacher said, "Revival and evangelism, although closely linked, are not to be confused. Revival is an experience in the church; evangelism is an expression of the church."
Dr. Stephen Olford wrote in his classic book "Heart Cry For Revival, that "the term 'revival' is one which is grossly misunderstood. In many quarters today, primarily in the United States, it is employed to describe evangelistic meetings. Now, while the salvation of sinners and the restoration of backsliders are both by-products of revival, these spiritual experiences cannot be said to define revival."
So, what is revival? Write this down. "Revival is the sovereign, supernatural movement of God among His people that comes as a direct result of repentance and prayer and holiness. It results in a fresh Christian walk in believers and the drawing of the lost to Christ."
Sometimes it's referred to as "spiritual awakening." Other times it's called "spiritual renewal" or "the outpouring of the Spirit of God." But the simplest, time-honored term is simply 'revival.'
And that's what we're going to be talking about and learning about over the next four weeks as we begin to pray for revival in our time.
Now, there are three quick things that I want to show you this morning as we talk about the biblical meaning of revival.
1. The Special Prompting For Revival.
Why is there a need for revival? Why are we even talking about this subject this morning? Well, just look at the word that the Psalmist uses and you'll get a little hint, "Will you not revive us again. . ." Revival. Re-life. Life-again. In other words, something's happened. Something's gone wrong. Something has happened to the life of the believer. Something has happened to the life of the church. Something has happened to the walk and the witness of those of us who have received the gift of eternal life.
Have we lost our salvation? No, the bible clearly teaches that once a person is truly, genuinely saved that he can never lose his salvation. That's why it's called 'eternal life' - it's forever. So, a Christian can never lose their salvation, but the Bible does teach that we can lose the joy and the power of our salvation.
For example, after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, David (Who was a man after God's own heart) cried out to God in repentance, "O God, restore to me the joy of your salvation." He hadn't lost his relationship with God. IF he had, his prayer would have been far different.
But he had lost the joy of that relationship; he had separated himself from the intimacy that he ahd once enjoyed in the presence of God. And as a result it was a chore and a challenge to even live a Godly life.
And that's where we are today. We no longer pray like we should. We no longer live like we should. We no longer witness like we should, We aren't being salt and light in a dark and corrupt world and as a result we see the degradation and degeneration of our communities and country.
And if we aren’t careful, it will drift from things we should do that we aren’t to doing to things we shouldn’t do that we are doing. I’ve watched it time and time again in my ministry. Someone gets on fire for God. They’re faithfully attending; helping with the children; coming to fellowships; active in visitation. And then something happens.
They get a ski boat or change jobs or the children get involved in some activities, and before long, they are no longer coming to visitation or fellowship. Then Wednesday night is gone. Then they start skipping Sunday night. And if they aren’t careful, their family life and their personal life will be offered on the altar of forsaken commitment to God.
And listen very closely: If that happens to you as a child of God, the only solution to that condition is revival.
Just look back a few verses to the beginning of Psalm 85. "Lord, You have been favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah
3 You have taken away all Your wrath; You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger. (That's salvation. They've been forgiven. They've been set free. They are no longer at war with God.
But watch this, something happened in between these two verses.)
4 Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
5 Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?"
Wait a minute. He just wrote in one verse that God's anger had been turned away and in the next verse he's praying for God's anger to cease, and even asking that it not proceed and pass down on the generations. What's going on here? I'll tell you what's going on here.
To put it biblically, they've left their first love. They've gotten cold and comfortable in their salvation. They got cold and comfortable in their walk with the Lord and as a result they drifted into sin and rebellion. And so, in order to make them realize what was going on and what they had done, God began to judge them.
This is always what precedes and prompts a moving of the Spirit of God. This is what happens before a real revival breaks out. In the church there is coldness and apathy and in the culture there is corruption and anarchy.
And into that setting, in direct response to the prayers and petitions of, usually a small handful, of God's people, God moves in and begins to stir and strengthen this small group and they begin to tell others within the church and God begins to stir and strengthen them and they begin to tell others outside the church and God begins to save and sanctify them. And it grows and it spreads and it moves and it manifests itself until the entire area is embraced with the power and presence of God.
You say, "But pastor, it's too dark and it's too bad and it's too far gone for God to do anything like that today." Hey, it's on the darkness night that you need a flashlight the most.
D.M. Patton said, "It is a foolish blunder to suppose that any age can be too evil for revival."
So the prompting for revival is a sin soaked society and a cold, carnal, comfortable, complacent church. Let me ask you. Do you think that we live in a sinful society? Do you think that we live in a wicked world? Sure we do. You know that as well as I do. But, let me get a little more personal.
Do you think that we, as a church and as individual believers have gotten a little comfortable, a little complacent, maybe even a little cold in our relationship with Christ? "I can pray when I want to. I can witness when I want to. I can tithe when I want to. I can come to church when I want to."
Listen, for the Christian, those things aren't just opportunities, they're obligations. The norm, not the exception, is for the Christian to pray and witness and tithe and be faithful to the church. Those are supposed to be the standard operation procedures for the child of God. And we've got far too many Christians who are playing church, not being the church.
There are those of you here this morning, and you've gotten comfortable in your Christianity. You've grown cold and complacent; maybe you've even become carnal. You've fallen into sin and it has severed your fellowship with God. You're watching things that you ought not watch. Doing things that you ought not do. Going places that you ought not go.
And you go to bed at night and your joy's gone and your peace is gone. And if seems like your prayers are as heavy as boulders and heaven is as hard as concrete. And your marriage is on the rocks, and your family is drifting apart. Your finances are a mess, and your relationships at work or school are terrible.
What you need more than anything else is repentance and revival.
Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, "I am profoundly convinced that the greatest need in the world today is a real, heaven-sent revival in the church"
That's the special prompting for revival.
2. The Scriptural Picture Of Revival.
Look back at verse 6, "Will You not revive us again?" As you study your Bible, you'll find many pictures that can be used to describe what God does during revival or spiritual awakening.
- Sometimes it's described as a falling fire. Acts 2:3
- Sometimes it's described as a fresh wind. Acts 2:2
- Sometimes it's described as a refreshing rain. (Hosea 6:3, ". . . He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.")
But I believe that the most vivid illustration of what God does in revival is found in Ezekiel 37. It's the account of Ezekiel standing before a valley that is full of dry, dusty bones. I bet we could all sing the little song that goes along with this story.
ILLUS: "Them bones, them bones, them dry bones,
Them bones, them bones, them dry bones,
Them bones, them bones, them dry bones.
Now hear the word 'o the Lord.
The toe bone's, connected to the foot bone,
The toe bone's, connected to the foot bone,
toe bone's, connected to the foot bone.
Now hear the word 'o the Lord.
(And it goes up from there)
Toe bone's connected to the foot bone.
Foot bone's connected to the ankle bone.
Ankle bone's connected to the shin bone.
Shin bone's connected to the knee bone.
Knee bone's connected to the leg bone.
Leg bone's connected to the hip bone.
Hip bone's connected to the back bone.
Back bone's connected to the neck bone.
Neck bone's connected to the chin bone.
Chin bone's connected to the head bone.
Them bones, them bones, gonna walk around.
Them bones, them bones, gonna walk around.
Them bones. them bones, gonna walk around.
And guess what? They did. The Lord arranged it.
The prophet proclaimed it and all of a sudden those old bones started rattling and rustling and coming together. Those tendons began to stretch out. Those muscles began to bunch up. That skin began to spread out and cover those old dry, dusty, dead bones.
But there was still a problem. Ezekiel preached to that bunch of bones and the Lord brought them together and stood them up, but now all Ezekiel had was a bunch of bodies standing there, no doubt in formation, but there was no life in them. They were still dead. They had eyes, but couldn't see. They had hands, but couldn't fight. They had feet, but couldn't walk.
By the way, that's some picture of the modern day church, isn't it? Organized and formalized and pasteurized, but no life, no breath, no Spirit.
So, in verse 9, the Lord said to Ezekiel, "Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."' "10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army."
The Psalmist cried out, "Revive us, O Lord." "Will you not revive us again?" "Revive me according to Your word." "Revive me in Your way." "Revive me in Your righteousness." "Revive me according to Your loving-kindness." "Revive me according to Your justice." "Revive me according to Your judgments." "Revive me, O LORD, for Your name's sake!"
Hey, this is personal. This is intimate. This is the Christian. This is the church crying out for God to bring them together and bind them together and breath a fresh breath of life into them 'again' so that they can be the church militant and not the church impotent, for His name's sake.
3. The Specific Purpose Of Revival.
Look back one last time to Psalm 85. He tells us in no uncertain terms what the purpose of revival is.
Verses 6 – 13
That's the purpose of revival. "That your people may rejoice in you" and "That your glory may dwell in our land."
Back in the 1930’s a great revival broke out in China. We know that event as the Shantung Revival. One of the most notable of the missionaries who was involved in that revival was Bertha Smith. For 42 years another missionary served alongside her who was named. C.L. Culpepper. One night Culpepper stayed up late for devotions, but as he tried to pray he felt hard. Finally he asked, “Lord, what is the matter?”
Culpepper then recounts, I had opened my Bible to Romans 2:17. It seemed the Apostle Paul was speaking directly to me when he said, “But if you call yourself a Christian and rely upon the Gospel, and boast of your relation to God, and know His will, and approve what is excellent; and if you are sure you are a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness, a correction to the foolish, a teacher of children –
you then who teach others, will you not teach yourself”
The Holy Spirit used this verse like a sword to cut deeply into my heart. He said, “You are a hypocrite! You claim to be a Christian!
What have you really done for Christ? The Lord said those who believed on Him would have rivers of living waters flowing from their inmost being! Do you have that kind of power?”
Culpepper awakened his wife, and they prayed into the night. The next morning at a prayer meeting with fellow Southern Baptist workers, he confessed to pride and spiritual impotence, saying his heart was broken. The Holy Spirit began to so convict the others of sin that they could hardly bear it.
I watched their faces grow pale, then they began to cry and drop on their knees or fall prostrate on the floor. Missionaries went to missionaries confessing wrong feelings toward one another. Chinese preachers, guilty of envy, jealousy and hatred, confessed their sins to one another.
The revival spread through the seminary, the schools, the hospital, and the area churches. Perhaps the deepest impact was made on Culpepper’s friend Wiley B. Glass, a highly respected missionary. As Glass sat in the meetings, a man’s face came before him and God seemed to be asking Glass about his attitude toward that man. Wiley had hated the man for many years, and suddenly the Holy Spirit brought him under deep conviction.
In great anguish, Glass went to Culpepper, fell on his shoulder, and said, “Charlie, pray for me!” Both men went to their knees, but Glass was so distressed he couldn’t express his problem. He was pale as death and kept groaning in his anxiety. I prayed with him and for him several times during that day and the next. In the evening of the second day he came running to me and threw his arms around me.
“Charlie, it’s gone!” he exclaimed.
I said, “What’s gone?” He replied, “That old root of bitterness.”
He told me that thirty years earlier, before he came to China, the man had insulted his wife. The insult had made him so angry he felt he could kill the man if he ever saw him again. He realized a called servant of God should not feel that way, and it had bothered him for years. Finally he just turned the man over to God. When the Holy Spirit began moving in his heart during that week, the question came, “Are you willing for that man to be saved?”
He answered, “Lord, I’m willing for You to save him . . . just keep him on the other side of heaven!” Finally, he came to the place where he said, “Lord if that man is alive, and if I can find him when I go on furlough, I will confess my hatred to him and do my best to win him to you.” When he reached that decision, the Lord released the joys of heaven to his soul, and he was filled with love and peace. He became a more effective preacher for the lord, and during the next few years he led hundreds to Christ.
Could it be that what we really need is genuine revival? There’s enough bitterness and anger and unforgiven sin in most Baptist churches to cause a stench in hell.
And that’s why God designed revival. An opportunity to be forgiven and start over.
And that’s your opportunity today.
